How to Speak English Fluently in 10 days - Step By Step

How to Speak English Fluently:

English is becoming the important aspect of life; some may find it difficult to speak. The question that arises is how to speak English fluently? It is not at all difficult, if you follow simple step you can learn to speak English fluently in 10 days, the guidelines are provided below, just follow the simple steps and you may find that speaking English is not at all a difficult job.

Steps to be followed to speak English fluently in 10 days are:

• Newspapers- They are the basic source to learn the common English spoken in day to day life. One must read English newspapers daily and practice the words.
• Pocket Dictionary- It is easy to carry a pocket dictionary to any place a person is visiting. Any word that seems difficult or unknown could be referred through dictionary.
• Adopt English in your daily life- If an aspirant wants be really good in English the only way possible is to use it in daily routine no matter how broken it might seem in starting but with daily routine it will be polished and a rhythm would be created.
• Listen to the English songs- English songs may help you to practice English try and remember the lyrics and practice them.
• Watch English Movie- One must watch Hollywood movies for the better reference and if you are unable to understand their language due to fluentness use subtitles.  
• Listen to the conversation attentively- For being a good speaker one must be a good listener too, so be a part of the group speaking in English and listen as well as learn how they are speaking.
• Think in English- Very important step to adopt in life is that while thinking about anything in your mind try to communicate in English with yourself in your mind as thoughts would change so would the speaking power change.
• Read novel and books- English novels are very supportive in case of spoken language as the conversation given in them are helpful to learn the language.
• Write in English- Pick a topic and start writing in English about it and then look for the mistakes done while writing it.
• Regular Practice- As there is an English proverb “practice makes the man perfect” so practice it as much as possible, record your voice in English and get your mistakes corrected or you can also join an online spoken English class for the same purpose.

If these steps are followed English could be spoken fluently within 10 days for sure.

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Three Boxes and a Ruby Puzzle with Solution Interview Question

Puzzle :

           Alice places three identical boxes on a table. She has concealed a precious ruby in one of them. The other two boxes are empty. Bob is allowed to pick one of the boxes. Among the two boxes remaining on the table, at least one is empty. Alice then removes one empty box from the table. Bob is now allowed to open either the box he picked, or the box lying on the table. If he opens the box with the ruby, he gets a kiss from Alice (which he values more than the ruby, of course). What should Bob do?

Solution:

             This problem is known as the Monty Hall Problem. 

             If Bob switches his choice, he wins with probability of 2/3. The YouTube video explaining this solution in detail.  To get better intuition, it helps to consider a slightly different problem with 100 boxes with one box containing a ruby. Bob then picks one of the boxes at random. At least 98 of the remaining boxes are empty — these are removed by Alice. So now, we are left with two boxes: should Bob switch? Indeed, for he wins with probability 99/100 if he switches!

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Three mislabeled jars problem Interview Question

Puzzle :

This problem is also called Jelly Beans problem. You have three jars that are all mislabeled. one contains apples, another has grapes, and the third has a mix of both. 

Now you are allowed to open any one jar and you can able to see one fruit. [ The jar you are open may contain one fruit or two fruit. but you could able to see only one fruit and you can't find weather the opened jar has one or two fruit].  How could you fix the labels on the jars ?

Variation :

You have three jars that are all mislabeled. one contains peanut butter jelly beans, another grape jelly jelly beans, and the third has a mix of both (not necessarily a 50/50 mix, could be a 1/99 mix or a 399/22 mix). how many jelly beans would you have to pull out, and out of which jars, to find out how to fix the labels on the jars?

|     |        |     |          |     |
|jar 1|        |jar 2|          |jar 3|
|     |        |     |          |     |
=======        =======          =======
  p.b.          grape          p.b./grape

thanks to joel wollman

Answer :

 1. Need to open Apple+Orange jar. If it has apple. then it should be labeled as Apple. The jar which has label Orange should be labeled as "Apple+Orange" and the last one should be "Orange".

2. You have three jars that are all mislabeled. one contains peanut butter jelly beans, another grape jelly jelly beans, and the third has a mix of both (not necessarily a 50/50 mix, could be a 1/99 mix or a 399/22 mix). how many jelly beans would you have to pull out, and out of which jars, to find out how to fix the labels on the jars?

   |     |                  |     |                 |     |
  |jar 1|                |jar 2|               |jar 3|
   |     |                  |     |                 |     |
=======        =======          =======
     p.b.                   grape             p.b./grape

solution: 1 jelly bean from the p.b./grape jar will do the trick.
the trick here is to realize that every jar is mislabeled. therefore you know that the peanut butter jelly bean jar is not the penut butter jelly bean jar, and the same goes for the rest.
you also need to realize that it is the jar labeled p.b./grape, labelled as the mix jar, that is your best hope. if you choose a jelly bean out of there, then you will know whether that jar is peanut butter or grape jelly jelly beans. it can’t be the mix jar because i already said that every jar is mislabeled.
once you know that jar 3 is either peanut butter, or grape jelly, then you know the other jars also. if it is peanut butter, then jar 2 must be mixed because it can’t be grape (as its labelled) and it can’t be peanut butter (that’s jar 3). hence jar 1 is grape.
if jar 3 is grape, then you know jar 1 must be the mix because it can’t be p.b. (as its labelled) and it can’t be grape (that’s jar 3). hence jar 2 is peanut butter.
if you pick jelly beans from jar 1 or jar 2, then you would have to pick out all of the jelly beans before you knew what that jar was. this is because jar 1 and 2 could be the mix, so in order to disprove that they were the mix, you would have to pull out every jelly bean just to make sure (since there could just be one bean of the opposite flavor in there)

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3 switches 1 light puzzle

You have a set of 3 light switches outside a closed door. One of them controls the light inside the room. With the door closed from outside the room, you can turn the light switches on or off as many times as you would like.

You can go into the room - one time only - to see the light. You cannot see the whether the light is on or off from outside the room, nor can you change the light switches while inside the room.

No one else is in the room to help you. The room has no windows.

Based on the information above, how would you determine which of the three light switches controls the light inside the room?

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Hundred numbers in a sheet puzzle

This is another one frequently asked puzzle in writtern test taken by IT companies. Anyone can easily understand and try to answer this puzzle. A simple logic is behind this puzzle try to find out.

Puzzle :

A sheet of paper has statements numbered from 1 to 100. Statement n says "exactly n of the statements on this sheet are false." Which statements are true and which are false? What if we replace "exactly" by "at least"?

Answer :

In these 100 statements one and only one statement can be correct. That means 99 statements have to be incorrect and thus statement 99th is true

If replaced by "at least", and the "real" number of false statements is x, then statements x+1 to 100 will be false (since they falsely claim that there are more false statements than there actually are). So, 100-x are false, ie. x=100-x, so x=50. The first 50 statements are true, and statements 51 to 100 are false.

However, there is a hidden and incorrect assumption in this argument. To see this, suppose that there is one statement on the sheet and it says "One statement is false" or "At least one statement is false," either way it implies "this statement is false," which is a familiar paradoxical statement. We have learned that this paradox arises because of the false assumption that all statements are either true or false. This is the hidden assumption in the above reasoning.

If it is acknowledged that some of the statements on the page may be neither true nor false (i.e., meaningless), then nothing whatsoever can be concluded about which statements are true or false.

This problem has been carefully contrived to appear to be solvable (like the vacuous statement "this statement is true"). By changing the numbers in some statements and changing "true" to "false," various circular forms of the liar's paradox can be constructed. A much more complicated version of the same problem is:

1) At least one of the last two statements in this list is true.

2) This is either the first true or the first false statement in the list.

3) There exist three consecutive false statements.

4) The difference beween the numbers of the last true statement and the first true statement is a factor of the unknown number.

5) The sum of the numbers of the true statements is the unknown number.

6) This is not the last true statement.

7) Each true statement's number is a factor of the unknown number.

8) The unknown number equals the percentage of these statements which are true.

9) The number of different factors which the unknown number has (excluding 1 and itself) is more than the sum of the numbers of the true statements.

10) There are no three cosecutive true statements.

What is the number?

The incorrect but plausible solution is:

By 2, either way 1 must be false, and then so must both 9 and 10.

6, if false, says "This is the last true statement", which gives a paradox, thus 6 must be true, and so must 7 and/or 8.

7 and 8 cannot both be true, as the number had to be a multiple of 6,7,8 , that is a multiple of 168 (by 7), and less than 100 (by 8)

If 8 is false, then 3 is true (8,9,10 is false), if 8 is true, then 3 is false (3 cannot be true when both 6 and 8 are true, then there are no three consecutive statements left).

So we have either

A) F X F X X T F T F F or B) F X T X X T T F F F

In A), 4 and 5 must be true (by false 10), and 2 may be true or false. So by 5 the number shall be either 27 (2+3+4+5+6+7) or 25 (3+4+5+6+7). None of these can fullfill 8, though, so A) is out leaving us with B)

Now, (by 7) 3,6 and 7 are factors, the number must be a multiple of 42, as 2+3+4+5+6+7=27, 5 must be false.

By false 10, 2 and 4 must be true, that is 5 shall be a multiple of the number. Now the number must be a multiple of 2,3,4,5,6 and 7, that is a multiple of 3*4*5*7=420. 420 has 22 different factors (2,3,4,5,6,7,10,12,14,15,20,21,28,30,35,42,60,70,84,105,140,210) and the sum 2+3+4+6+7 = 22, so the only multiple of 420 that fulfills false 9 is 420.

If you know any other answers please comment here..

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How to interview a person - An Article

How to Conduct an Interview

Interviews have four stages that precede the writing of a story: 

• Arrangements.
• Preparation.
• The actual interview.
• The reconstruction.

ARRANGEMENTS
   
               Once an interviewer has decided to interview someone, He should call the candidate in advance to make an appointment.  Identify himself by his name and the name of his publication.  If the interviewer feels that he need to do so or asked to describe what the story is about, be brief and general.  The shape of the story might change as him continue his reporting. If the interviewer interviewing several persons in connection with the story, interview the principal person last, because he will be better prepared based on what the learning from the earlier interviews.

PREPARATION

   
            Try to prepare as much research as possible on the person in advance on topic working on. Sources might be the library, public records, the internet and the expert people in that technology for background information.  Prepare the questions in advance if necessary writing and bring them into the interview.  Refer to them but don't show them to the candidate, because it creates too formal an atmosphere.  Ask other questions as they might arise, based on what the candidate says or something new that might come at the moment.  Bring pencil (or pen) and paper.  A stenographer's notebook is usually easier to handle than a large pad but use whatever is comfortable.  Bring a tape recorder but be sure to get the permission to use it from the person you are interviewing. 

THE INTERVIEW

   
            It is inadvisable to launch right into the interview unless it’s being given a few minutes.  Some casual conversation to start with will relax both of you.  Interviewers should ask Questions should be as short as possible.  Give the respondent time to answer.  Interviewers must be a good listener. If candidate prattles on, it is appropriate to move on as politely.  Interviewer might say something such as:  "Fine, but let me ask you this ".  Try to draw out specifics:  How long, how many, when, etc.? 

          Try to absorb the atmospherics of the locale where the interview takes place, with particular attention to what might be a reflection of the candidate’s personality and interests, such as photos of children or bowling trophies or a paper-littered desk or a clean one, etc.  Note characteristics of the candidate that might be worth mentioning in your story, such as pacing, looking out the window to think, hand gestures and the like.  Invite the person to call you if she/he thinks of anything pertinent after the interview.  It often happens, Interviewer should provide his name, email addresses and phone number on a card or piece of paper before to leave.  If that person has a secretary, be sure to get that person's name and telephone number, too, in case there is some detail that needs follow up and, again, leave information as to how you may be contacted.  If a photo is needed and is not taken during the interview, be sure to make arrangements then to have one taken at a later time.

RECONSTRUCTION

           As soon as it's practical after the interview, find a quiet place to review the handwritten notes.  While taking notes, that may have written abbreviations for words that won't mean anything in a day or two later.  Or some scribbling may need deciphering, and, again, it is more likely to be better able to understand the scribbles soon after the interview.  Underline or put stars alongside quotes that seemed most compelling. One star for a good quote, two stars for a very good one, etc.   It will speed the process when you get to the writing stage.  One other thing to look for in the notes:  the quote wrote down might not make a lot of sense, unless to remember what specific question it was responding to.  In short, fill in whatever gaps exist in the notes that will help better understand them when writing.

How to Interview a Programmer

Finding good programmers is hard because good programming is dependent on much more than just knowledge of programming language syntax.

         1.  The Interviewer needs someone who, despite wearing striped pants with a polka dot shirt, has a good sense of taste in OO design.
        2.  He need someone who the candidate is creative enough to find innovative solutions to problems, yet anal retentive enough to always line up their curly braces.
        3. The Interviewer needs someone who (the Programmer) is humble enough to be open to suggestions for improvement, but arrogant enough to stand firm and provide leadership when they are the best person to provide it.

How to tell all this about a stranger by spending 30 minutes with them in a conference room? 

Summery:

 Explore an Area of Expertise
 Have Them Critique Something
 Ask Them to Solve a Problem
 Look at Their Code
 Ask About a People Problem
 Get to Know Them
 Conclusion

Explore an Area of Expertise

Rather than simply look for expertise and experience in the exact area in which the candidate will work, it is necessary look for general programming talent and ability. One way to explore and judge a candidate's talents is to explore an area of their expertise:

1. Hire for talent. One of the biggest mistakes companies make is to recruit from a shopping list: I need a programmer with six years Java, three years Oracle, and two years EJBs. The world changes, so to hire folks who change with it. Look for people who know computing, not necessarily particular narrow niches. Not only will they adapt better in the future, they're also more likely to be innovative in the present. 
2.  To identify how good the candidates are technically, I let them choose an area in which they feel they have expertise. I need them to know something well, and I ask them about that. I ask them why. I want them to know why something in their area of expertise works the way it does. I'm not necessarily after an expert in the area I need. If they learned why in the past, I have confidence they'll learn why in the future.

Have Them Critique Something

Another technique involves the importance of creating a dialog with the candidate. To get to know the candidate's talents and personality, Do n’t merely ask questions that have short factual answers. Find a way to engage a conversation. To stimulate dialog, ask the candidate to critique some technology:

1. I ask candidates to critique a system or platform that we both have in common, preferably something they will use on the job. For example, I might ask, "What parts of Java don't you like and why?"
2. I give candidates samples of our current code and ask them to explain and critique it. This gives me a sense of their skills, but also lets them know what they can expect.

Ask Them to Solve a Problem

Another way to foster an open-ended dialog is to ask the candidate to perform a task: to solve a problem or create a design. Although everyone at the meeting seemed to agree that this was important and useful technique, it also generated a lot of concern. People felt that asking the candidate to solve puzzles and problems needed to be done with care:

Several expertise interview taken and their review is given below

1. I like to ask a candidate to solve a small-scale design problem, finger exercises, to see how they think and what their process is: "How would you write a function that tells me if its argument is a power of 2?" I'm not looking for the optimal bit-twiddling solution ((n & -n) == n). I'm looking to see if they get the method signature right, if they think about boundary cases, if their algorithm is reasonable and they can explain its workings, and if they can improve on their first attempt.
2. I ask candidates to create an object model of a chicken. This eliminates any problems with uncertainties about the problem domain, because everyone knows what a chicken is. I think it also jars people away from the technical details of a computer. It tests to see if they are capable of thinking about the big picture.
3. I hate anything that asks me to design on the spot. That's asking to demonstrate a skill rarely required on the job in a high-stress environment, where it is difficult for a candidate to accurately prove their abilities. I think it's fundamentally an unfair thing to request of a candidate.
4. I don't like when I'm asked to write a program that does X on a piece of paper. Don't ask the candidate to write a program on paper. That is a waste of time and sweat. People don't write software on paper, they do it with computers using auto-completion, macros, indexed API documentation, and context-sensitive help. They think about it, refractor it, and even rewrite it. If you want to see a person's work, ask them to write some small module or implement some interface before the interview and bring the code on a notebook PC or on hard copy. Then you can review it and discuss the design, coding style, and decisions that went into it. This will give you a much more realistic and useful assessment of a person's work and style.
5. I like design dialog questions that don't have a single fixed answer. That way they have to ask me questions, and this sparks a discussion. It's good to have a whiteboard available in the room. A dialog lets the interviewer see how the interviewee works, whereas a question of fact is just that: it is great for TV quiz shows, but doesn't tell you how someone will work and approach things over time. A puzzle question requires knowing a trick, which is in essence something that is either known or unknown. I dislike puzzle questions, because they don't require dialog.
6. What constitutes a reasonable question depends a lot on the candidate's experience and maturity.
7. I look for people with curiosity. Present problems, not puzzles.

Look at Their Code

          One technique we all seemed to like: Have the candidate bring a code portfolio to the interview. Look at the candidate's code and talk to them about it. Although we were concerned that some candidates may not have code they could legally bring to the interview, we figured most candidates could probably come up with something. It can't hurt at least to ask a candidate to bring to the interview a sample of code they had written in the past.

         Find Out What Books They Read Several people indicated that they ask candidates about the programming books they read to see if a programmer is self-motivated or concerned about improving their own programming skills:

Ask About a People Problem
           
            As important as technical ability, or perhaps more important, is personality. How well would the candidate fit the team? How well would they fit the work environment? People used various techniques to judge personality. Good citizenship is probably more important than technical prowess, because if you have people with the right kind of attitude and demeanor, you can help them gain the technical knowledge and software development habits. But if you have people who lack humility and maturity, it can be extremely difficult to get them to cooperate in reaching a goal, no matter how bright they are or what they've accomplished in the past.

Get to Know Them

          Perhaps the prominent theme of our discussion was that you need to try to get to know the candidate as best you can. Talk to the candidate in the interview. Try to get a feel for them. If possible, bring them in on a trial basis or for a probationary period. That would give you more time to get to know the candidate, and give the candidate more time to get to know you:

Chuck Allison: I talk to them. I get a feel for them. I always ask about what they've done. I have found that by discovering what a person is excited about technically, you can learn a lot of important things about them. In the past I've asked people to describe a project that was especially interesting to them, or that was challenging and successful. On occasion I've asked what they've done that they're the most proud of. This usually reveals the depth of one's understanding and mastery. It also gets them to turn on the fire hose verbally, and you can sit back and get most of the answers you need.

Randy Stafford: I look at past projects listed on their resume, and ask them to talk about those projects—how was the team organized, what the technologies and architectures were used, was the software successful in production, etc. In their answers I'm listening for what lessons they learned from those experiences, and whether those lessons match with lessons I've learned from my experiences and from professional literature. I get a glimpse into how they perceive themselves in relation to the world around them. Some come off as arrogant, some ignorant, some helpless. Others sound humble, intelligent, and motivated. I often ask them what software development literature they read. Continuous education is very important to me.

Angelika Langer: In Germany, hiring is like marrying someone. It's "until death do us part"—a marriage without the backdoor of a divorce, because you can't fire employees. The only chance for firing someone is during a three- to six-month probationary period, or when the company goes out of business. The major filtering is done before the interview, based on the curriculum vitae (CV) and submitted papers, such as evaluations from former employers. (In Germany, employers must provide every employee with a written evaluation when they leave the company.) The interview itself is usually brief. The main tool in filtering is scrutinizing the CV and papers; 98 percent of all applicants are disqualified in this phase. The interview should confirm the impression you gain from the applicant's papers and allows you to sense their personality. The lucky winner then goes on a probationary period. Probation definitely does not replace the filtering; it just keeps a last exit open until you really must commit.

Andy Hunt: We've hired people who interviewed well, but they were terrible at the job. If possible, hire them in for a trial period.

Dawn McGee: You could also bring candidates in for half a day, and have them do what they would be doing on the job.

Conclusion

             To sum up the overlying themes from our hour-long discussion in Portland: You should look for talent and fit more than specific skill sets. Ask open-ended questions to initiate revealing dialog. Ask candidates to critique something. Ask them to design something. Investigate their past experience. Review their code. And through conversation and, if possible, a trial period, you should try to become familiar with the candidate's technical abilities, talents, and personality.

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What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses ? Interview Question

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses ?

 

•  Strengths
•  Trabs
•  Best Answer
• Weeknesses
• Trabs
• Possible Answer
• Example 1
• Drawback
• Example 2
• Example 3

Strengths

Trabs :

This question seems like a softball lob, but be prepared. You don't want to come across as egotistical or arrogant. Neither is this a time to be humble.

Best Answer: 

You know that your key strategy is to first uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs before you answer questions. And from Question 1, you know how to do this.

Prior to any interview, you should have a list mentally prepared of your greatest strengths. You should also have, a specific example or two, which illustrates each strength, an example chosen from your most recent and most impressive achievements.

You should, have this list of your greatest strengths and corresponding examples from your achievements so well committed to memory that you can recite them cold after being shaken awake at 2:30AM.

Then, once you uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs, you can choose those achievements from your list that best match up.

As a general guideline, the 10 most desirable traits that all employers love to see in their employees are:

1. A proven track record as an achiever...especially if your achievements match up with the employer's greatest wants and needs.
2. Intelligence...management "savvy".
3. Honesty...integrity...a decent human being.
4. Good fit with corporate culture...someone to feel comfortable with...a team player who meshes well with interviewer's team.
5. Likeability...positive attitude...sense of humor.
6. Good communication skills.
7. Dedication...willingness to walk the extra mile to achieve excellence.
8. Definiteness of purpose...clear goals.
9. Enthusiasm...high level of motivation.
10. Confident...healthy...a leader. 

 

Weaknesses

Trabs: Beware - this is an eliminator question, designed to shorten the candidate list. Any admission of a weakness or fault will earn you an “A” for honesty, but an “F” for the interview.

PASSABLE ANSWER: Disguise a strength as a weakness.

Example 1: “I sometimes push my people too hard. I like to work with a sense of urgency and everyone is not always on the same wavelength.”

Drawback : This strategy is better than admitting a flaw, but it's so widely used, it is transparent to any experienced interviewer.

BEST ANSWER: (and another reason it's so important to get a thorough description of your interviewer's needs before you answer questions): Assure the interviewer that you can think of nothing that would stand in the way of your performing in this position with excellence. Then, quickly review you strongest qualifications.

Example 2: “Nobody's perfect, but based on what you've told me about this position, I believe I' d make an outstanding match. I know that when I hire people, I look for two things most of all. Do they have the qualifications to do the job well, and the motivation to do it well? Everything in my background shows I have both the qualifications and a strong desire to achieve excellence in whatever I take on. So I can say in all honesty that I see nothing that would cause you even a small concern about my ability or my strong desire to perform this job with excellence.”

Alternate strategy : (if you don't yet know enough about the position to talk about such a perfect fit):
Instead of confessing a weakness, describe what you like most and like least, making sure that what you like most matches up with the most important qualification for success in the position, and what you like least is not essential.

Example 3: Let's say you're applying for a teaching position. “If given a choice, I like to spend as much time as possible in front of my prospects selling, as opposed to shuffling paperwork back at the office. Of course, I long ago learned the importance of filing paperwork properly, and I do it conscientiously. But what I really love to do is sell (if your interviewer were a sales manager, this should be music to his ears.)

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Is Your Husband a Cheat? : Puzzle Asked by Microsoft

Microsoft Riddle :

                This puzzle is asked by Microsoft while selecting the people for their company. This puzzle or Riddle is famous for interviewers while they taking interviews.    This puzzle is famously known as "Is Your Husband a Cheat". Visitors of this page can try to answer this puzzle.

 Is Your Husband a Cheat?

Puzzle : A certain town comprises of 100 married couples. Everyone in the town lives by the following rule: If a husband cheats on his wife, the husband is executed as soon as his wife finds out about him. All the women in the town only gossip about the husbands of other women. No woman ever tells another woman if her husband is cheating on her.  So every woman in the town knows about all the cheating husbands in the town except her own. It can also be assumed that a husband remains silent about his infidelity. One day, the mayor of the town announces to the whole town that there is at least 1 cheating husband in the town. What do you think happens?

Answer :  Stumped? Let’s solve this methodically. Say there was only 1 cheating husband in the town. There will be 99 women who know exactly who the cheater is. The 1 remaining woman, who is being cheated on, would have assumed there are no cheaters. But now that the mayor has confirmed that there is at least one cheater, she realizes that her own husband must be cheating on her. So her husband gets executed on the day of the announcement.

Now let’s assume there are 2 cheaters in the town. There will be 98 women in the town who know who the 2 cheaters are. The 2 wives, who are being cheated on, would think that there is only 1 cheater in the town.  Since neither of these 2 women know that their husbands are cheaters, they both do not report their husbands in on the day of the announcement. The next day, when the 2 women see that no husband was executed, they realize that there could only be one explanation – both their husbands are cheaters. Thus, on the second day, 2 husbands are executed.

Through induction, it can be proved that when this logic is applied to n cheating husbands, they all die on the n th day after the mayor’s announcement.

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Microsoft Puzzle : 100 Prisoners in Solitary Cells

100 Prisoners in Solitary Cells

Puzzle : 

100 prisoners are stuck in the prison in solitary cells. The warden of the prison got bored one day and offered them a challenge. He will put one prisoner per day, selected at random (a prisoner can be selected more than once), into a special room with a light bulb and a switch which controls the bulb. No other prisoners can see or control the light bulb. The prisoner in the special room can either turn on the bulb, turn off the bulb or do nothing. On any day, the prisoners can stop this process and say “Every prisoner has been in the special room at least once”. If that happens to be true, all the prisoners will be set free. If it is false, then all the prisoners will be executed. The prisoners are given some time to discuss and figure out a solution. How do they ensure they all go free?

Answer : 

Since this is the only way they will EVER get out of that prison, they decide to work together and make a plan. They select one prisoner (Bob, easier to refer) as the counter.

Every time any prisoner is selected other than Bob, they follow these steps. If they have never turned on the light bulb before and the light bulb is off, they turn it on. If not, they don’t do anything (simple as that). Now if Bob is selected and the light bulb is already on, he adds one to his count and turns off the bulb. If the bulb is off, he just sits there meditates or whatever he wants to. The day his count reaches 99, he calls the warden and tells him “Every prisoner has been in the special room at least once”.

So how does this solution work? Every time a prisoner enters the room first, he turns on the bulb if it is off. This way every prisoner turns on the bulb only once. When Bob enters and sees the bulb on, he knows that one new prisoner has entered the room so he adds one to his count. So when his counter reaches 99, he knows the rest of them have all been in the special room and obviously, he has been in the special room.

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Microsoft interview Puzzle: Three Ants on Triangle

This puzzle is asked during interview by Microsoft while electing the people for their company. Now many companies ask this puzzle while recruiting the students.  This puzzle somewhat mathematical oriented. This interview puzzle is famously known as “Three Ants on Triangle” puzzle. People who know the concepts of probability can easily solve this puzzle.


Puzzle Question:    


Three ants are sitting at the three corners of an equilateral triangle. Each ant starts randomly picks a direction and starts to move along the edge of the triangle. What is the probability that none of the ants collide?

 

Answer:

The ants can only avoid a collision if they all decide to move in the same direction (either clockwise or anti-clockwise). If the ants do not pick the same direction, there will definitely be a collision. Each ant has the option to either move clockwise or anti-clockwise. There is a one in two chance that an ant decides to pick a particular direction. Using simple probability calculations, we can determine the probability of no collision.



P(No collision) = P(All ants go in a clockwise direction) + P( All ants go in an anti-clockwise direction) = 0.5 * 0.5 * 0.5 + 0.5 * 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25

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Gold for 7 Days of Work: Asked by Microsoft

 

This puzzle is also asked by Microsoft. But this is famous puzzle asked by almost all companies nowadays interviews while recruiting people. This puzzle is not math oriented. By using simple analytic logic we can answer this puzzle.

Puzzle : 

Lets us consider someone working for you seven days. You have a Gold bar to pay him. You must pay the worker for their work at the end of every day. If you are only allowed to make two breaks in the gold bar, how do you pay your worker? (Assuming equal amount of work is done during each day thus requiring equal amount of pay for each day).

Answer :  

The trick is not to try and how to cut in such a way to make 7 equal pieces but rather to make transactions with the worker. Make two cuts on the gold bar such that you have the following sizes of bars.


1/7, 2/7 and 4/7. For convenience sake, I would just refer to the bars as 1, 2 and 4.

At the end of Day 1: Give Bar 1 (You- 2 and 4, Worker- 1)

At the end of Day 2: Give Bar 2, Take back Bar 1 (You- 1 and 4, Worker- 2)

At the end of Day 3: Give Bar 1 (You- 4, Worker- 1 and 2)

At the end of Day 4: Give Bar 4, Take back Bar 1 and Bar 2 (You- 1 and 2, Worker- 4)

At the end of Day 5: Give Bar 1 (You- 2, Worker- 1 and 4)

At the end of Day 6: Give Bar 2, Take back Bar 1 (You- 1, Worker- 2 and 4)

At the end of Day 7: Give Bar 1 (You- Empty, Worker- 1, 2 and 4)

That should take care of everything.

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Microsoft puzzle - A Box of Defective Balls

Puzzle Question :

You have 10 boxes of balls (each ball weighing exactly10 gm) with one box with defective balls (each one of the defective balls weigh 9 gm). You are given an electronic weighing machine and only one chance at it. How will find out which box has the defective balls?




 
Answer :
 
          For convenience sake, let’s name the boxes from 1 to 10. In order to solve this problem, you have to leverage the fact that you know exactly what each good ball is supposed to weigh and what each defective ball is supposed to weigh. Many of us instinctively will take one ball out of each box and try to find a way to make it work but the trick to take different number of balls from each box.
The number of balls you pick from each bag is equal to the box number. For example, pick 1 ball from box 1, 2 balls from box 2 and so on. In total you will have 55 balls. If all of the boxes have good balls, then the total weight of these balls would be 550gm.
If box 1 has defective balls, then the total weight should be 1gm less than expected (only one ball weighing 9 gm). If box 2 has defective balls, then the total weight should be 2gm less than expected (two balls weighing 9 gm). So once you weigh the set of chosen balls, find out the difference between the total weight and the expected weight. That number represents the box number which contains the defective balls.

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Microsoft Puzzles : River , Solders and the boat

This puzzle is asked by microsoft long ago in their interview. This puzzle is associated with how solders cross the river in a small boat. To solve this puzzle you do not need to be math genious simple thinking is enough. It is very simple puzzle. Try to solve this puzzle.

Puzzle :

                    Consider there are 10 soldiers on the one side of the river. They need to go to the over side of the rever. There is no bridge in the rever and no one can swin in the rever. One of the soldiers spots the boat with two boys inside. The boat is very small and the boys in the boats also very small. The boat can either hold two boys or one soldier. Now tell me how can all soldiers go to the other side of the river using this boat ?

Answer : 

             First you have the two boys take the boat to one side of the river and leave a boy on that side of the river. One boy takes the boat back to the other side and stands on the shore. Then a soldier gets in the boat and rides it to the other side. When he arrives on the other side, then the boy gets in the boat and takes it back to the other side and picks up the other boy. They ride back to the other shore and drop off one of the boys and continue this process until all the soldiers are on the other side of the river.

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Microsoft puzzle with answer : Globe Walker

Puzzle :
          This is another one puzzle asked from Micrsoft. How many points are there on the globe where, by walking one mile south, then one mile east and then one mile north, you would reach the place where you started? Answer for this puzzle is given below.

Answer:
           The trivial answer to this question is one point, namely, the North Pole. But if you think that answer should suffice, you might want to think again!

Let’s think this through methodically. If we consider the southern hemisphere, there is a ring near the South Pole that has a circumference of one mile. So what if we were standing at any point one mile north of this ring? If we walked one mile south, we would be on the ring. Then one mile east would bring us back to same point on the ring (since it’s circumference is one mile). One mile north from that point would bring us back to the point were we started from. If we count, there would be an infinite number of points north of this one mile ring.

So what’s our running total of possible points? We have 1 + infinite points. But we’re not done yet!

Consider a ring that is half a mile in circumference near the South Pole. Walking a mile along this ring would cause us to circle twice, but still bring us to back to the point we started from. As a result, starting from a point that is one mile north of a half mile ring would also be valid. Similarly, for any positive integer n, there is a circle with radius

r = 1 / (2 * pi * n)

centered at the South Pole. Walking one mile along these rings would cause us to circle n times and return to the same point as we started. There are infinite possible values for n. Furthermore, there are infinite ways of determining a starting point that is one mile north of these n rings, thus giving us (infinity * infinity) possible points that satisfy the required condition.

So the real answer to this question is 1 + infinity * infinity = infinite possible points!

Visitors can write your comments and different answers as you think..

TRRKG8ESM7VM

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Microsoft interview puzzles : Aeroplane

Aeroplane.

Puzzle :

The puzzle question is : On Bagshot Island, there is an airport. The airport is the homebase of an unlimited number of identical airplanes. Each airplane has a fuel capacity to allow it to fly exactly 1/2 way around the world, along a great circle. The planes have the ability to refuel in flight without loss of speed or spillage of fuel. Though the fuel is unlimited, the island is the only source of fuel.

What is the fewest number of aircraft necessary to get one plane all the way around the world assuming that all of the aircraft must return safely to the airport? How did you get to your answer?

Notes:

(a) Each airplane must depart and return to the same airport, and that is the only airport they can land and refuel on ground.

(b) Each airplane must have enough fuel to return to airport.

(c) The time and fuel consumption of refueling can be ignored. (so we can also assume that one airplane can refuel more than one airplanes in air at the same time.)

(d) The amount of fuel airplanes carrying can be zero as long as the other airplane is refueling these airplanes. What is the fewest number of airplanes and number of tanks of fuel needed to accomplish this work? (we only need airplane to go around the world)

solution for this puzzle is given below. Write your comments.. and any different answers.

Answer :

           As per the puzzle given ablove The fewest number of aircraft is 3! Imagine 3 aircraft (A, B and C). A is going to fly round the world. All three aircraft start at the same time in the same direction. After 1/6 of the circumference, B passes 1/3 of its fuel to C and returns home, where it is refuelled and starts immediately again to follow A and C.

C continues to fly alongside A until they are 1/4 of the distance around the world. At this point C completely fills the tank of A which is now able to fly to a point 3/4 of the way around the world. C has now only 1/3 of its full fuel capacity left, not enough to get back to the home base. But the first "auxiliary" aircraft reaches it in time in order to refuel it, and both "auxiliary" aircraft are the able to return safely to the home base.

Now in the same manner as before both B and C fully refuelled fly towards A. Again B refuels C and returns home to be refuelled. C reaches A at the point where it has flown 3/4 around the world. All 3 aircraft can safely return to the home base, if the refuelling process is applied analogously as for the first phase of the flight.

I hope all of you understand puzzle with answers.. If your are not understand comments your queries..

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100 Doors in a Row - Interview Puzzle/Riddle

100 Doors in a Row

Problem: you have 100 doors in a row that are all initially closed. you make 100 passes by the doors starting with the first door every time. the first time through you visit every door and toggle the door (if the door is closed, you open it, if its open, you close it). the second time you only visit every 2nd door (door #2, #4, #6). the third time, every 3rd door (door #3, #6, #9), etc, until you only visit the 100th door.
question: what state are the doors in after the last pass? which are open which are closed?

First Try Without Seeing Answer :)

Solution

For example, after the first pass every door is open. on the second pass you only visit the even doors (2,4,6,8…) so now the even doors are closed and the odd ones are opened. the third time through you will close door 3 (opened from the first pass), open door 6 (closed from the second pass), etc..
question: what state are the doors in after the last pass? which are open which are closed?
solution: you can figure out that for any given door, say door #42, you will visit it for every divisor it has. so 42 has 1 & 42, 2 & 21, 3 & 14, 6 & 7. so on pass 1 i will open the door, pass 2 i will close it, pass 3 open, pass 6 close, pass 7 open, pass 14 close, pass 21 open, pass 42 close. for every pair of divisors the door will just end up back in its initial state. so you might think that every door will end up closed? well what about door #9. 9 has the divisors 1 & 9, 3 & 3. but 3 is repeated because 9 is a perfect square, so you will only visit door #9, on pass 1, 3, and 9… leaving it open at the end. only perfect square doors will be open at the end.

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